Summary
David Hume: On the measure of taste
It is usually considered that Kant is the first great philosopher of the modern era in whose thought the aesthetic issue has an important and unambiguously established place, so this is also sometimes seen as one of the features that contrasts critical philosophy with the great systems of the rationalist and empiricist tradition. ... The picture changes significantly when we leave the great philosophical systems of the 17th century and compare Kant with his slightly older contemporary Hume. Admittedly, like the philosophers of the 17th century, Hume did not leave behind any more extensive writings that would primarily discuss aesthetic problems and thus could represent a natural counterpart to the Critique of the Power of Judgment; but it would be completely wrong to draw the conclusion that in terms of aesthetic issues, Hume did not break with the philosophical tradition of the 17th century as decisively as Kant.
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